Chapter 442: White Emperor Dragon Transforming Tribulation

Boom—

A clap of sudden thunder drew everyone's gaze, for within the Yin Corpse Mountain Range where the Corpse Refining Sect resided, the ghostly energies were so dense that thunder had been unknown since ancient times.

Yet today, the skies above the range howled with churning clouds and interlacing lightning, entirely engulfed in a white, blinding glare, as though the universe itself were beginning anew and breathing forth a vibrant, nascent life.

"All disciples of the Corpse Refining Sect, evacuate immediately!" Elder Gai orchestrated the retreat of the flock; Sect Master Lu’s breakthrough was faster than anticipated, and the sect grounds were now a perilous place, highly susceptible to a stray strike from the heavenly tribulation.

The lightning tribulation of a breakthrough into the Tribulation Transcendence Stage was not something ordinary disciples could endure; the slightest touch meant certain death.

The trio from Governor Lyu's faction and the duo from Wu Yaodao's side halted their exchange by unspoken agreement.

Near a heavenly tribulation of this magnitude, one dared not stir any energy fluctuations, lest the tribulation mistake it for an attempt to interfere with its progress and turn its wrath upon them.

Governor Lyu and his two companions seized the moment to swiftly nurse their bodies, bracing for the coming conflict.

They rejoiced that with Sect Master Lu joining their ranks, the scales of victory hung balanced once more, and their battle against the Great Yu cultivators remained an open question.

Zhao Po was overcome with emotion; whether it had been nine thousand or ten thousand years, no one from their Corpse Refining Sect had attained the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, causing them to fall from a supreme-grade sect to a first-grade sect, but today, a transcendent master was finally about to emerge, reclaiming their supreme title.

This was precisely the distinction between the Five Great Immortal Sects and a supreme-grade sect; the requirement for the latter was to possess a cultivator of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, yet cultivators must eventually perish, at which point a supreme-grade sect would decline to first-grade status.

In contrast, even during the dark days when the Five Great Immortal Sects waned, when talent ran thin and several generations failed to produce a single master of that level, the immortal sects still retained means comparable to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, preserving their immortal renown.

Fifty thousand years ago, the Dao Seeking Sect had endured just such a period, suffering a generational gap where no transcendent master was born for two millennia, a plight that lasted until the rise of the mid-renaissance ancestor, Daoist Master Hanhai.

Throughout those two thousand years, the Dao Seeking Sect remained securely among the Five Great Immortal Sects.

The lightning tribulation continued to brew in the heavens, with only occasional bolts striking down in earth-shattering displays that were not even a prelude to what was to come.

Crack—

The dark clouds rolled over, pressing down as if to crush the earth, while streaks of white lightning flickered until the tribulation erupted completely, enveloping the Corpse Refining Sect and gradually dissolving the tens of thousands of years of ghostly energy accumulated in the mountains.

A long, resounding howl echoed out, faintly contending with the thunderous wrath as a figure clad in Daoist robes emerged from seclusion, soaring into the sky and deploying one dharma treasure after another in grim readiness, evidently well-prepared.

"So this is undergoing a lightning tribulation," Lu Yang murmured in awe; he had long heard tales of cultivators facing the tribulations of heaven, but this was his first time witnessing it, and a tribulation for the Tribulation Transcendence Stage at that, possessed of an incomparable majesty.

Even across half of Hanshui City, he could feel the shaking of the heavens and the earth, a testament to the sheer power of the tribulation above the Corpse Refining Sect.

"This tribulation is quite ordinary," the Immortal Fairy pouted, unimpressed by the display.

Were it she, she could have passed it with a yawn, without any need for such extensive preparations.

"Is there any story behind this lightning tribulation?" Lu Yang recalled that when it came to tribulations, the Immortal Fairy was the authority.

After all, the modern tribulations all originated from the Heavenly Tribulation Dao Fruit of the Immortal Ying Tian.

"Ying Tian created the lightning tribulation to temper cultivators, not to deliberately strike them dead; the stronger the tribulation, the greater the talent. Look at this one, it seems loud and imposing, but if you actually face it, you'll find its true might is quite mediocre."

"This particular tribulation is called the White Emperor Transforming Dragon Tribulation, and among tribulations, it ranks on the lower end of power."

The white lightning coalesced into a Dragon Emperor, its whiskers flying and scales shimmering as it bared its fangs and claws, looking for all the world like a true dragon possessed of sentience.

With a roar, the white Dragon Emperor collided with Sect Master Lu, tearing straight through his physical form and exposing stark white bones beneath a mist of deathly energy.

"Is Sect Master Lu going to die?!" Lu Yang gasped, stunned that the Sect Master would fall so quickly.

"No, that is a living corpse. His true body is hiding underneath. Quite clever of him; knowing the first wave of the tribulation would be too formidable to block, he used a living corpse to take the blow for him." The Immortal Fairy saw through Sect Master Lu's little ploy at a single glance.

Just as she predicted, the living corpse was blasted into fragments, and the true Sect Master Lu erupted from the earth to meet the tribulation head-on.

After that first strike, the power of the white Dragon Emperor had diminished somewhat.

The white Dragon Emperor struck again, sending a wave of agony through Sect Master Lu that made him cry out in pain as the white lightning left scorched tracks upon his flesh, burning both body and soul.

He frantically drew a jade vial from his robes to swallow a pill; yet no sooner had he consumed one to restore his strength than the remaining pills, along with the vial, vanished into the vast expanse of the thunderous tribulation.

Unstoppable, the white Dragon Emperor crushed the void, subjecting Sect Master Lu to a crucible of thousandfold tempering.

Then the heavenly tribulation dissipated, the pressure abruptly lifting, and the restless spiritual energy gradually settled into stillness.

Sect Master Lu's body was charred black like a piece of charcoal, dropping to the earth with a heavy thud.

"Did he fail?" A collective weight settled over the hearts of the city's inhabitants, sparking a chaotic murmur of discussion.

If Sect Master Lu had failed his tribulation, there would be no one left to oppose the cultivators of Great Yu.

"Look, the Sect Master's body moved!"

Thump, thump, thump—

A powerful heartbeat resounded, signaling the healing of internal wounds and the vanishing of hidden injuries.

Then came the sound of cracking; the surface of Sect Master Lu's body split open as a layer of charred, old skin peeled away to reveal newborn skin as translucent as crystal, his entire appearance looking over a decade younger.

"The lightning tribulation contains the spark of life; the lightning has baptized the Sect Master's body, and his physical form must be several times, perhaps even ten times stronger than before!" Elder Gai exclaimed in excitement, recalling the descriptions written in the records regarding the ancestors of the Corpse Refining Sect breaking through to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.

Sect Master Lu snapped his eyes open, his gaze flashing like lightning that pierced through the clouds.

He stood up straight, brimming with vitality, completely unlike his wretched state of resistance during the tribulation; he was a new man, radiating confidence.

He had successfully crossed the tribulation, becoming a cultivator of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.

The entire city erupted in cheers; whether it was the trio under Governor Lyu or the common folk of the city, seeing Sect Master Lu's success allowed their anxious hearts to finally find rest.

Only Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou felt no joy; during the tribulation just now, Sect Master Lu's garments had been shredded by the heavenly lightning, and the two of them were staring intently at his right wrist, their scalps tingling with a chilling horror.

There lay three interlocking rings, and within the center of the rings was written the character for "Ghost."

This was the very pattern found on the wrist of the masterless living corpse they had encountered while spending the night in the Desolate Province, which the village chief had explained at the time:

"A living corpse becomes masterless for only three reasons: either the master has died, leaving the corpse to wander aimlessly without control, or the master actively released their control over it, or else the living corpse turned upon its master and consumed them."

A living corpse could ward off a lightning tribulation; it was impossible for Sect Master Lu to have voluntarily severed his control over it.

Sect Master Lu was still standing right here, so it was not a case of the living corpse consuming its master either.

That left only the first possibility—Sect Master Lu was already dead, and his living corpse had wandered into Jianshi Village, where it was found by the village chief.

If Sect Master Lu was already dead, then who was the person currently controlling his body?!

The two exchanged a glance, a single possibility striking them instantly.

"A Tribulation Transcendence master of Great Yu has possessed Sect Master Lu!"

The second update will be at eleven o'clock.

(End of chapter)